The apprentice of Akshai
by AffenIsKala
Summary: When Izuku tries to commit suicide, he is saved by a man named Yasuo, who offers to train him in the ancient art of Akshai. Leaping at the chance to fulfill his dream, Izuku is thrust into a world that he never even knew existed. And while Izuku might be ready to put his past behind him, he soon learns that the past is not eager to leave him alone. AU, OOC, some suicidal themes
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own My hero academia in any shape or form. **

**Constructive criticism is always welcome, just don't be a dick. **

xxx

"You are all already on the ninth grade, and as you know, you will be expected to make perhaps the most important decision in your lives. Where do you want to study after you leave this fine establishment?" Izuku's homeroom teacher said, leaning over his desk. "I will now give each and every one of you a form with all the available institutions of further education listed, alongside with the requirements that need to be met in order to be accepted. But you all are going to apply to the hero courses, aren't you?" At this the entirety of the class cheered and displayed their various quirks from extendable eyeballs to minor levitation.

All expect one Bakugo Katsuki and Izuku Midoriya.

"Hey, teach!" Came the loud and obnoxious voice of Bakugo Katsuki. He was a lean youngster, with an untamable mop of pale blonde hair and red eyes, along with a mean streak a mile wide. "Don't group me together with the other NPC; s. Do you really think that I will be continuing along with these idiots?" At this the entirety of the class turned around to face Katsuki, shouting obscenities at him.

"Ah yes, Bakugo. You already submitted your form, didn't you? You're applying to UA, if I'm not entirely mistaken?" Hearing this, the entire class fell silent.

UA High was Japan's most prestigious high school, famed for not only it's prestigious academic courses, but the unparalleled amount of successful pro heroes that its hero courses had churned out over the years. Amongst its more well-known graduates were All Might and Endeavour, Japan's number one and two heroes respectively, alongside Kamui Woods, a rising star within the ranks of the heroes. In fact, he was predicted to be the youngest person ever to break into Japan's top ten. But if there was any doubt about UA's accomplishments, that it simply had gotten lucky with their student's, the fact the eighty percent of all heroes in Japan who made it into top ten were graduates of UA washed them away.

"Ah, young Midoriya is applying there as well." Izuku froze, alongside with the rest of the class. There was a couple of seconds of ringing silence, before his classmates erupted into mocking laughter.

"Deku, the quirkless wonder, applying to the UA? Don't make me laugh!"

"If he's lucky, maybe they'll take pity on him and allow him to clean the toilets!"

And so on and son on. But notably, one Katsuki Bakugo did not join in the mocking. Instead, he was literally smoldering with rage, the erratic popping and crackling of his quirk was a telltale of the fury that he was currently feeling inside of him.

"FUCKING DEKU!" He roared, slamming his palms down onto Midoriya's desk with a literal explosion. Izuku flinched backwards, falling from his chair. "YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN STAND SIDE BY SIDE WITH ME!" He shouted. "You don't even have a quirk, you wouldn't even small fry like the rest of the NPC: s!" Bakugo hoisted Midoriya up by his collar and held him close to his face, before whispering to his ear.

"I'm the one that's going to go to UA from this little nothing of a school. If you so much as look towards UA, I'm going to kill you where you stand, do you understand me, you quirkless nobody. And don't even think about going to the police, because what would they care? You're just a quirkless nobody. And accidents happen all the time." Bakugo finished with a nasty smile.

The teacher, who had observed this whole ordeal, cleared his throat. "I would remind you both that UA has ninety-nine percent cutoff rate. so, I would advise both of you to study as hard as you can. And as a reminder, due to the number of applications that they receive annually, UA holds their selection exams a few weeks earlier than normal, so I would advice you to use the remaining time well."

The rest of the class, which happened to be the last period of the day, thankfully passed without further incident. As the bell rung, and the rest of the student's rushed towards the doors, Izuku stayed behind to pack his pack. Then without warning, a shadow was cats over him.

"Well, well, well, look who it is, boys? Isn't it Deku, who thinks that he can pass the UA selection exam without a quirk?" Katsuki said, contempt dripping from his voice. "And what's this?" He asked, as he yanked the notebook from Izuku's hands. "Hero…analysis for the future…?" Bakugo trailer off absentmindedly leafing trough the pages of hand-drawn sketches of heroes and notes on their quirks. "You actually can't be serious?" He finally asked, holding the notebook, with genuine wonder in his voice. I mean, I would think that you would have already realized that your dreams are nothing more than delusions, but this is just a whole nother level." Bakugo said, before exploding the notebook with his quirk and flinging it out the window.

"Did you know that they say that you can see whose gonna be a top hero even in school?" Bakugo asked, hypothetically. "You see, I am a perfectionist. I will be the only one from this shitshow of a school who will make it to UA, ever." Bakugo laid his hand on Izuku's shoulder and smiled. It was not a kind smile. "So, my dearest Deku, if you would be so kind as to withdraw your application from UA, I would be most thankful." Bakugo's palm heated up and black smoke was starting to escape from between his fingers. "Otherwise I might have to take, how to say it, _drastic _measures to let you know your place." Bakugo let go of Izuku's shoulder.

He turned around to leave, but something seemingly stopped him. Fort a moment, Izuku thought that he might apologize to him, but that hope was trashed as soon as Bakugo opened his mouth. "Oi, Deku, let me tell you something.If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" After that Bakugo left, his laughter echoing in the hallways. Midoriya just stood in his place, frozen at his callousness.

"Kaachan…" He whispered

xxx

"_Idiot Kaachan. If I jumped, you would be charged with encouraging a suicide!" _Izuku Midoriya thought as he walked down the familiar paths, holding the scorched and soggy notebook. _Hero analysis for the future: 13 _was the tittle of the notebook, the ink barely legible after it had soaked in the school's koi-pond. Izuku leafed trough the pages of the notebook. Surprisingly, while few leaves had suffered greatly, the most damage dealt to the books middle pages were slightly singed corners.

So engrossed with his notebook, Izuku did not notice how a viscous mass of green slime emerged from the holes in the sewer grate behind him.

"Disguise, size M…" The mass of slime gurgled, causing Izuku to turn around and freeze in place. Behind him, there was something that looked like it could have been ripped straight from some horror-RPG. A viscous mass of transparent green slime towered over the young man, it's innards clearly visible trough the slime. Izuku felt a sudden urge to throw up, bile rising to the back of his throat, but before he could do anything, the slime rushed towards and enveloped his body.

"Stop struggling, I'll just take over that body of yours. It'll only hurt for about forty-five seconds, then it'll be over. You might even survive, if I can hide fast enough." The mass of slime said, trying to force its way down Izuku's throat. Izuku just clamped his jaws shut tighter. "Stubborn little meatsuit, aren't you? For the trouble, I'll make sure that you won't survive."

_I-I'm gonna die, please, somebody help me. Kaachan, All Might, Mt. Lady, anybody please, I don't want to die!" _Izuku struggled vainly against the suffocating mass of slime but he could feel himself going limp. Soon, he would be forced to open his mouth to breathe and then it would be all over.

"Worry not, young man. Everything's fine! Why? Because I am here!" A boisterous voice shouted, flinging away the grate and jumping up from the sewers. "TEXAS SMASH!" All Might reared his fist backwards and unleashed a massive punch against the slimy creature. Izuku felt the creature's body being flung away from him before he blacked out.

"Hey, hey, hey." Izuku felt something slapping gently against his cheek. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the smiling visage of Japan's number one hero, All Might. "Excellent! I feared for a moment that I would have to call on medical services, young man." All Might said, before bowing slightly to him. "I apologize that you had to be caught in the middle of that, but I was on vacation, and maybe a bit careless." He explained. "But not to worry, young man. With your help, I have managed to take the villain into custody!" All Might said, showing the sludge villain that had been attacking Izuku mere moments before stuffed inside… a two-liter soda can?

"A-a-a-a-a-all Might?" Izuku stuttered, his brain momentarily shutting down.

"Indeed, I am." The pro hero said, smiling. "Once again, I must thank you for your help in capturing this villain, but now we must part ways. I still have to deliver him to custody." All Might said, preparing to leap into the skies. Izuku reacted on instinct, reaching for the pro-hero's cargo shorts and managing to find a handhold, before he was whisked away into the sky.

"What are you doing, young man?" All Might shouted, as he felt Midoriya hang onto his shorts.

"I-i-i-i-i-I still need to ask you something!" Midoriya shouted back, clinging on for dear life. Luckily, All Might quickly managed to spot a roof to land, and soon they were both back on stable ground. All Might looked Izuku questioningly, waiting for the boy to ask the question that apparently was worth risking his own life for.

"Ever since I was four years old, and I saw the video from your hero debut, I have wanted to be like you, a hero that saves the day with a smile on his face, but then I was told that I was quirkless. And then my mom said that I can't be a hero without a quirk." At this Izuku took a deep breath.

And I just wondered, if I can still be a hero without a quirk?" Izuku asked, tears shimmering in his eyes. All Might just sighed. "I just want to know, if I can be like you, even if I don't have a quirk?" All Might prepared to answer, before the familiar feeling of pain lanced trough his being. Steam was beginning to waft from his muscles, and he was shivering. _'Holy shit, not now, not now! Anytime but now!" _He was desperately trying to hold on to the waning embers of his quirk, but even he knew that it was a losing battle.

"Because I think that it's amazing what you, saving people with a smile on your face, fearless even in the face of impossible odds, and I want to be a hero just like that!" Izuku declared, lifting his gaze from the rooftop, expecting to see the face of his idol, telling him that he could be a hero, even if he didn't have a quirk. Instead of that, he was greeted with a large cloud of slowly dissipating steam, eventually revealing the form of an emaciated man with sunken face and a scraggly mop of bright blonde hair. Izuku had to swallow a scream of fright. "Who-who are you?" he managed to stutter out.

The skeletal man just sighed, before sitting down. "I'm All Might." He said, "Or what's left of him, anyway." He finished bitterly under his breath, not that Izuku heard him.

"You, c-can't be."

"Do you know the guys that pretend to be buff at the swimming pool? Same thing. Anyway, might as well tell you the whole story right now, I only need for you to promise that you won't tell anyone about it. Can you do that?" Izuku nodded. All Might lifted his shirt up, revealing an unnaturally smooth and pale skin underneath it. Then he proceeded to remove the prothesis, and this time Izuku could not stop the noise that came from his mouth.

The lower left side of his torso looked like somebody had taken a massive chunk out of it and covered the resulting wound with bruised and scarred skin. The skin color was a bright purple in the immediate area of the bruise and bright purple veins were snaking away from it, crisscrossing around the area immediately surrounding the wound.

"Five years ago, I got into a fight with a villain. As a result, I lost most of my digestive system and a chunk out of my lung. And I was lucky, because I still have my heart and one of my kidneys intact. Just a little more power or a few centimeters here or there, I would be dead. I had to go trough hundreds of surgeries in succession, such as a completely new liver and a patch job that allows me to still absorb nutrients trough what little remains of my stomach."

"Fi-five years ago, Toxic Chainsaw…?" Izuku trailer off, referring to the infamous mass murderer that had terrorized Japan for a few years, before All Might brought him into custody.

"No, that small fry wasn't even a problem, I'm speaking of someone far worse. I won't tell you about him, just to save you from the nightmares, but let's just say that he is the only man that I have ever wanted to kill. And I don't know if I even succeeded in that, because we never found the body."

"S-s-s-so you're saying that whoever did that you might still be around?" Izuku was close to hyperventilating at this point. To think that someone had the power to not only to nearly kill All Might, the number one hero in Asia, and the number two in the world, and that he might still be out there. All Might saw his worry.

"No need to worry, because even if he's still alive, he's in no position to threaten anyone anymore after I was done with him. Because what he did to me." All Might gestured at his wound, "Is nothing compared to what _I _did to him." All Might finished darkly, and Izuku didn't even want to imagine what he had done to the villain. "It was my wish that this story to never become public knowledge, so that people would still believe that the symbol of peace was unbreakable in the face of evil." All Might sighed. "You might wonder why I'm telling you all this, right?" Izuku nodded. "So that you would understand why I say what I'm about to say. You can't be a superhero without a quirk. You just don't have the necessary power to do so. But, if you still want to be a hero, become a police officer. I know that they might be ridiculed about just being villain storage, but it is still an important job." All Might rose from his seated position, and slowly shuffled towards the door. Before disappearing down the stairwell, he stopped. "It is good to dream, young man, but you still need to face the reality." Izuku was left behind on the roof, stunned speechless.

xxx

Toshinori Yagi hated himself at the moment. Hated himself for crushing the young boys dream, hated himself for extinguishing the hope that had shined so bright behind those emerald green eyes. _"I'm did it for the boy's own good. This way he will never have to face the cruel realities of being quirkless hero." _There had certainly been those that had attempted to do so, but those had only lasted for a few months, before being killed off. Toshinori sighed, feeling the bottle containing the sludge villain in the pants of his cargo shorts. He would need to give this to the police. _"It was for the boy's own good." _He reaffirmed his conviction. But if it truly was so, why did he feel like that he was lying to himself.

xxx

Izuku Midoriya was walking blindly. While he looked straight ahead, he did not see anything. The only things in his mind were the words of his friend and hero.

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump form the roof!" _

"_You can't be a hero without a quirk."_

Izuku stewed in his own melancholy, mind wandering into ever darker places.

"_DEKU! That's what you are! A useless DEKU!"_

"_You can't be a hero without a quirk."_

"_I'm sorry, Izuku."_

"_You can't be a hero without a quirk."_

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" _

"_You can't be a hero without a quirk." _

"_The quirkless abomination in s no son of mine."_

"_You can't be a hero without a quirk."_

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" _

"_You can't be a superhero without a quirk"_

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" _

"_You can't be a superhero without a…"_

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" _

"_You can't be a superhero without…"_

"_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!"_

"_You can't be a hero."_

_If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!"_

"_**You can't be a hero!"**_

"_**If you want to become a hero, trust the fact that you will have a quirk in the next life, and jump from the roof!" **_

Izuku bounced on the balls of his feet, procrastinating. He had climbed to the top of an abandoned apartment complex thanks to the rusting fire ladder bolted to the side of the building. Normally, he wouldn't' even dare to look at it, but now he found himself beyond caring. The decision was already made, but why was he pushing it away and away. If he simply jumped, he would be out of everyone's hair. Kaachan would become the number one hero, his mom would be able to fix things with his father, All Might wouldn't have to worry about his secret slipping out. No, it would be better to all if he just jumped. So why was he procrastinating? It would be better if he just jumped. Izuku steeled himself, took a last look at the Musutafu skyline, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped.

The wind rushed against his face as he plummeted downwards, the feeling in his stomach familiar from the time that he had ridden a rollercoaster in the amusement park. Izuku opened his. The ground was rapidly rushing towards him, and he involuntarily braced himself for the impact. It never came. Instead he felt himself to be yanked sideways in the air.

"Fool of a boy! What in the good god's name were you thinking?!" An angry voice shouted and laid him down on the ground. Izuku opened his eyes. His gaze was met by a man in his fifties, whose eyes blazed with mixture of anger and worry. "What were you thinking boy?" He asked again.

"I-i-i" Izuku managed to stutter, suddenly feeling very glad that he was still alive.

"Don't answer. Did you ever stop and think what you were about to do? What would your parents do when they waited you at home and then a policeman came to their door and told them that their son jumped to his death?" Izuku flinched away at the anger in the man's voice. Tears were shimmering in his eyes. The man's face and voice softened. "It's all right, Now, tell me, why would you want to take your life away?" Something inside Izuku broke and he grabbed the man's shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. The man stiffened against the sudden contact, before his muscular arms hugged Izuku. "It's all right now, son. It's all right. Just tell me what happened." So Izuku told him the whole story, in its entirety.

The man seemed contemplative. "Can you tell me where you live, son?" After Izuku told, a strange lull came over him, and he welt unbearably sleepy. He tried to fight, but soon, he was out like a light.

xxx

Inko Midoriya was surprised to hear a knock on her door. She was not expecting any visitors today, and Izuku had his ow keys to the apartment. As she walked to open the door, she mentally prepared herself to deal with some enthusiastic door to door salesman. So, imagine her surprise when instead of a man with a suit and a briefcase, she was face to face with an unknown man holding her son in his arms. The man was in his fifties, the first sings of gray appearing into his beard and hair. His face was of an undeterminable ethnicity, but his face bore clear signs of Asian and Caucasian descent. He had allowed his beard and mustache to grow freely, covering his chin and surrounding his mouth with a thick and coarse layer of hair.

The man's clothes were simply a plain white robe tied at his waist with a bright red strip of cloth, alongside a pair of white, loose-fitting pants. He wore no shoes. Prayer beads were wrapped around his right forearm.

"Who are you?" She asked, the worry for her son clear in his voice.

"My name is Yasuo. May I come in miss…?"

"Midoriya. Midoriya Inko."

"Miss Midoriya. Your son has had a pretty rough day so far, so if we could lay him down somewhere, and then we can discuss in peace?"

"Of course. Do come in." Inko allowed Yasuo inside and guided him to Izuku's room. Yasuo winced as he saw all the All Might memorabilia that decorated the room. _"That's got to hurt. Having your dreams crushed by someone idolize this much."_ Yasuo thought. After making sure Izuku was peaceful, Yasuo and Inko sat down in the living room.

"Tea?" Inko asked, and Yasuo just nodded.

"You might want to sit down." Yasuo told Inko, and she could not help but feel a sense of dread well up inside her. Yasuo sipped his tea and took a moment to gather his thought before opening his mouth. "I respect you enough to not sugarcoat anything, so I will be straight with you. Your son tried to commit suicide about an hour ago."

And with those words, Inko Midoriya felt her entire life shatter to pieces. 

xxx

**Reviews are always appreciated, but again, do not be a dick. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. **

**Until next time. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own My hero academia. **

**Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

**Key:**

**xxx-Scene change**

**-x- POV change**

xxx

_Izuku Midoriya was dreaming. He was standing in a field, under a pitch-black sky shot with red veins of light that pulsed in accordion with a beat of an unseen heart. Izuku felt water splashing against his ankles. Under the dim light, he could make out the blurry outlines of small, irregular hills with thin, crooked tress growing out of them. _

"_Hello?" He said, hearing only the distant echo of his voice. "Is anyone here?" Again, he received no answer. The glow from the red light was intensifying, casting dancing shadows in the ground, and Izuku could feel the bile rising in his throat. _

_The field was strewn with mutilated corpses, and what he had thought were trees were actually broken limbs. In the distance, a crimson sunrise revealed an effigy of corpses constructed to decorate some unknown god. The expressions on their faces were that of ecstasy, like the thought of being sacrificed to sate the bloodthirst of a barbaric deity was the only purpose of their lives. The crimson sunrise brought along with it an explosion of light that felt like Izuku was covered in fire. He could feel his skin blackening and peeling away from his flesh. Izuku screamed in pain, while the sea of cadavers started to sift, and to rise up and merge into something. _

_From the sifting sea of bodies, an arm rose. It was not a human arm, but rather an arm of a beast. Long, unnaturally proportioned, and without flesh, the arm reached up from the pile of grotesque flesh and pulled the rest of the body after it. The skeleton that emerged was tall, and bipedal, its arms dragging against the ground and wings without flesh emerging from its back. Rearing its head backwards, it screeched. The moaning corpses shuffled towards the beast, climbing up the skeleton and melding to it, covering the bones with bare muscle._

_The monster, now covered in sinew and muscle threw its arms around in a blind fury, flinging corpses around like broken toys. Then, it turned around and spotted Izuku. Screeching, it opened its jaws and started running towards him. Izuku tried to move, but his legs wouldn't listen to commands and all he could do was scream as the monster lifted him upwards and lowered him towards its mouth. _

"_Enough." A strong and cultured voice said, and the beats obeyed, dropping Izuku down onto the sea of bodies. Against the crimson sun, he could see the outline of a muscular man. _

"_Izuku Midoriya. The man said, and Izuku could feel the shivers running down his spine. I will be watching you with great interest." The man said, as he turned around and walked into the sunrise. "Finnish him." The beast once again obeyed and Izuku couldn't even scream before the jaws of the monster closed around him. _

xxx

Izuku shot up from his bed, drenched in sweat and rubbed his eyes. His heart was bounding, and he could still feel the jaws of the monster closing around him. He momentarily panicked, before he realized that he was sitting in his own bed. Trough the closed door, he could hear the mutterings of a quiet conversation in the living room. A pang of dread speared trough him as he remembered what had happened before he fell asleep. If the stranger had told his mother about what he tried to do…

Then, without warning, his head exploded. Or, at least that was what it felt like, as a searing pain lanced trough his skull. Izuku's vision swam, and multicolored ribbons of flowing light filled his eyes. There were greens, oranges, blues, reds, all the colors imaginable, and a few that he had never seen before. The ribbons perforated trough walls like they weren't even there. Looking down at himself, he saw himself surrounded by a bright emerald corona reminiscent of the videos of Aurora Borealis that he had watched. And as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone, leaving no traces of their existence behind.

Izuku was now panicking. What had just happened was supposed to be impossible. And even if it could be explained away by the sudden manifestation of a quirk, Izuku did not possess one. In fact, he did not even have the necessary genetic markers for the development of a quirk factor. His father had given enough money to perform a genetic screening in hopes that his son would be just an extremely late bloomer, but when the test results had come back negative, his father had denounced his as his son, and neither Izuku or Inko had heard from him since, with the exception of monthly child support payments.

Swallowing down the lump of panic, Izuku opened the door as quietly as possible, and creeped down the hallway, being careful to make as little sound as possible.

Peering into the living, he could see the same man that had saved him earlier sitting on the couch, with a steaming cup of tea held in his hands, while his mother sobbed into her hands. Izuku felt a pang of quilt in his chest. The man whispered something that Izuku could not make out.

Inko lifted her face from her hands, and upon seeing Izuku in the hallway, stood up and marched to him. Izuku just stood there while his mother engulfed him into a hug, sobbing and muttering apologies all the while. Izuku just awkwardly hugged ger back, while whispering soothing words in her ear.

-x-

Yasuo stared. Having felt the burst of aura emanating from somewhere in the apartment when his spell on the Midoriya offspring broke he had assumed that the boy's own life-force had simply flared momentarily when it had expelled his own, but he could see now that that wasn't the case. Instead of the dull gray aura that normally surrounded people, Izuku was surrounded by a bright corona of the exact same shad of emerald green as found in the boy's eyes.

'_How did he awaken it? I thought that people with quirks couldn't do that…' _Yasuo's thoughts drifted off as he remembered that Izuku did not possess a quirk. And he also remembered that he had used his own life-force to lull the boy to sleep. Yasuo cursed inwardly. The boy's own aura must have awakened in defense when he had pushed his own trough Izuku's body when he had placed the spell on him.

Now that the boy's life-forcer had awakened, he was honor-bound to teach him how to use it. Or to permanently seal it away, though he would prefer if it didn't come to that, but there may not be any alternative if the boy proved unsuitable for training. And even if he did neither, and just let the boy be, he may discover it on his own, and that would bear disastrous consequences for both the boy and everyone around him. And for the cherry to top it all off, the boy clearly wasn't in the right state of mind. No-one that tried to commit suicide was. The boy clearly needed professional help, and with him being a quirkless, it would be significantly harder to come by.

While Yasuo himself had been lucky enough to never develop any problems with his own mental health, the warnings that his master had driven into him during his training still rung clear. The secrets that the Akshai-monks held could end up breaking the boy further, if his mind wasn't fully prepared for them. And he had to tell the boy those secrets, if only for his own protection.

-x-

Izuku was still hugging his mother, who by now had sagged down and the only reason that she was still standing was that she was clinging to Izuku. The man rose from the couch and placed his hand on Inko's shoulder; a slight gleam of blue light emanated from under the man's palm, before Inko sagged forward, now fully leaning onto Izuku. He struggled under her weight, as she wasn't exactly the most athletic person in existence. "Let's get her to bed, and then I'll start explaining things." the man said, hoisting Inko up in a bridal carry. Izuku just mutely nodded, following the stranger. There were dozens of questions flying around in his head, ranging from who the man was to what exactly his quirk did.

They were sitting in the living room, and the stranger was holding his lukewarm cup of tea in his hands. "I see that you have questions, young Midoriya. Ask away." The stranger said, sipping his tea.

"Who are you? Are you a pro hero? What does your quirk do?"

The stranger raised his hand. "One question at the time, please. As for the answers, my name is Yasuo. I'm not a pro-hero, and I don't have a quirk."

Izuku was struck speechless. Less than five percent of the world's total population were quirkless, and he had never expected to meet another person that did not possess a quirk. But his excitement was washed away when he remembered what Yasuo had done to make his mother fall asleep.

"But you used your quirk on my mother, didn't you?" Yasuo raised an eyebrow in questioning manner, while glancing upward from his teacup. "When you put her to sleep." Izuku clarified. Yasuo sighed and placed down his cup of tea.

"I didn't use my quirk to put your mother asleep, because I don't have one. Rather, I manipulated my own life-force in such a way that it lulled your mother to sleep. That is just one of the methods that I can use my own life-force, and one of the things that you can do, if given the proper training."

"What…." Izuku trailer off, unable to comprehend what Yasuo just told him.

"Yes. If given proper training, you could use your own life-force not only to put people to sleep, but also do things such as reinforcing your body, healing people from debilitating wounds, extended the reach of your body, and even to weaponize it."

Izuku continued to be silent. If what Yasuo told him was the truth, then maybe he could become a hero, after all. Maybe he still could fulfill his dreams. That though was shattered when Yasuo continued his explanation. "However, since the awakening of your life-force was accidental, I'm not certain that I _should _train you in its use. The training will be harsh, and at times, even dangerous, because you are literally throwing your own life-force around."

Yasuo leaned forwards, a pensive look in his eyes. "As far as I can tell, the best course of action is for me to seal away your own life-force and ensuring that you cannot cause harm to either yourself or to those around you. However, I feel like that you should be allowed to tell your thoughts on the matter. So, Izuku Midoriya. Tell me why I should train you."

Izuku was silently panicking. Here was a man offering him a chance to fulfill his dreams, but he would have to be convinced to do so, and Izuku was not sure that he could. Especially now, when his whole worldview was shattered. So instead of giving him a comprehensive answer, he just muttered "Because I want to be a hero."

There was a moment of silence as Yasuo pondered on the answer. Finally, he came to his conclusion. "Why? Why do you want to become a hero? That's what I'm asking." He said and rose from the couch. "I will give you three days to ponder on that, before I demand my final answer. Should I find it satisfactory, I shall train you. Otherwise…" He trailed off and left Izuku alone in the apartment, thinking about his reasons for becoming a hero.

xxx

Katsuki Bakugo was in his room, simmering with anger. While this wasn't an unusual in any way, but the reason why he was simmering was. Normally, he would have taken his frustration out on the annoying green haired bastard, but since he hadn't been in school today, he was denied his usual way of releasing anger, which was the cause of his current annoyance.

'_Maybe he finally took the hint and offed himself. _ In truth, Katsuki wouldn't loose an ounce of sleep if the extra just decided to jump from the roof and die. Hell, he felt pleased thinking about it.

'_Fucking Deku. What's he thinking trying to stand next to me._ _Him and all the other extras. I'll be the number one hero, and the rest of them are just steppingstones for that. And if they get in my way, I'll just kill them all.' _Katsuki found himself smiling at the thought. Him, standing above all others as the undisputed number one hero in the world. But that would take an insane amount of work and training, and with the UA entrance exams just ten months away, he couldn't afford to waste any of his time. But Katsuki Bakugo wasn't anything if not determined. So determined in fact, that he had managed to not lose his cool for the entirety of eight hours that it had taken him to apply for a special permit that would allow him to receive his hero-costume early.

He could hear muffled speaking in downstairs and following shortly in the wake of phone being put down, his father opened the door. He looked angry, angrier than Katsuki had ever seen him. "In the kitchen. Now." He said and walked back downstairs. Katsuki wondered what had gotten him so agitated.

"Inko just called me." She said as soon as Katsuki had sat down on the table. "Did you tell Izuku to jump off the roof?"

Katsuki felt a flare of anger inside him. _'So, the quirkless wonder went and cried about I to his mother. Typical.' _He would have to remind Deku what happened to snitches the next time he saw him. "And what if I did? It's not like anyone's going to miss him." Internally, Katsuki decided that some roughhousing was in order to remind Deku about his place. He was shaken out of those thoughts when he felt his mother slap him in the cheek.

"Wha…" He trailed off as he held his stinging cheek. While his mother had swatted him before when he had argued against her, those had never hurt. This was the first tike that his mother had seriously struck him.

"How can you be so callous about it?! You just told an innocent boy that he should go and kill himself! And what's worse, he actually tried to!" Katsuki was silent for a moment.

"Figures." He scoffed. "Deku couldn't even kill himself properly." He was silenced when his mother slapped him again, harder this time.

"Do you have even the slightest idea what you have done? If they choose to go to court, they could very easily accuse you of attempted manslaughter! Do you really think that UA or any other hero academy really take you as a student with that kind of criminal record?" Mitsuki asked him with tears streaming down her eyes. Katsuki was silent, he really hadn't thought of that. But soon, the anger replaced shock.

'_How dare he. When he finally realizes that he doesn't have a future, he tries to ruin mine too!' _Katsuki thought venomously, cementing the fact that he would have to teach Deku a very painful lesson what happened to those that tried to get in the way Katsuki Bakugo.

"If he's gonna go to court, I'm going to fucking kill him!" He roared, flipping the table up as he rose from his chair and stalked back upstairs, unheeding of the calls of his parents. _'Fucking Deku, thinking that he can ruin my future. I'll show him! I'll show them all!'_

xxx

Osagawa Masarahide was still sitting in his office. While his working hours may have ended some time ago, he was still busy with organizing the applications of his students. While the vast majority of them were applying to one of the several hero academies around Japan, he regrettably knew that most of them wouldn't be making it into them. That's why he was insistent on them seeking secondary and tertiary study options. Suddenly, his phone rang. Seeing that the caller was Mrs. Midoriya, he decided to bring up her son's strange absence.

"Mrs. Midoriya, a pleasure." He stated. Inko Midoriya did not munch her words.

"_I'm pulling Izuku Midoriya out of school for the rest of the term." _She promptly informed him, to his shock.

"Could you please elaborate?" He said, shocked at hearing that she would be pulling his son out of school, just as they were entering perhaps the most critical part of their education so far. The rest of the year would be dedicated to reviewing all the previously taught material and preparing the students for their entry exams. To pull a child out of education at this moment would be foolish.

"_My son attempted to commit suicide yesterday as a direct result of the systematic bullying that he has suffered while a student in your establishment." _Hearing those words, Osagawa Masaruhide felt his jaw drop. Never before in his career had a student under him attempted to commit suicide. And while he knew that as a quirkless, Izuku Midoriya would be on the receiving end of some scorn from the more closed-minded individuals, it had never been brought out to his attention that the young boy was being bullied. And to go so far as to try and to commit suicide… If it got out, it would destroy the reputation of the school, and by extension, his own. He would be lucky to find work cleaning public toilets.

"Mrs. Midoriya, I have not been informed in the slightest that your son has been subjected to bullying. I intend to get to the root of this immediately." Osagawa said into the phone.

"_Be that as it may, it still doesn't change the fact that Izuku won't be attending to your establishment any longer. Goodbye." _After that, there was only silence. Osagawa leaned backwards in his chair, already dreading the weekly teacher's meeting.

xxx

Izuku Midoriya was nervous. Well, more nervous than usual. After three days of thinking about his reasons of becoming a hero, and for more than once, consulting his mother about those same reasons, he felt like that he had as a good answer as he was ever going to get. Now, he would only have to wait until Yasuo arrived and give him his answers. After that, he would hope against all hope that they would be satisfactory. If they weren't and the man refused to train him, well, he didn't want to think about what then.

There were three sharp raps against the door, and Izuku practically leaped up in the air as he raced to open the door. But while he was exited, there still was apprehension bubbling in his gut. _'What if they aren't good enough? What then? How will I become a hero then?' _Izuku swallowed his doubts and made his way to the door. Just as he thought, Yasuo was standing behind it. While his attire was unchanged, he was holding an ancient-looking scroll in his hands. The paper was browned with time, and the once engraved golden endpieces had worn down to slightly shining spheres. If Izuku had to guess, he would say that it was made long before quirks were a thing. In Yasuo's waist, a long, curved dagger was sheathed.

"Are you ready, kid?" Yasuo asked. Izuku just nodded, suddenly unable to formulate words. "Then tell me, why do you want to become a hero?"

Izuku swallowed. It was now or never. "Because I want to be like All Might. I want to help people and let them know that they are safe because I am there. I want to become a hero that smiles at the face of danger and tells others that everything's going to be all right." While his whole answer may have been much longer, his mother had persuaded him to shorten it down to that. Yasuo seemed thoughtful.

"Why would you want to be like All Might. Didn't he tell you that you can't be a hero?" Yasuo questioned.

"Because he did have my best interest in mind. I would've died if I tried to become a hero, but with your training, in could have a chance." Izuku elaborated on his thoughts about All Might. "While it does hurt that he didn't believe I could become one without a quirk, I can understand where he is coming from." He had also looked up quirkless vigilantes and was confronted with the undeniable proof that they just didn't last very long on the hero scene before being crippled or killed.

Yasuo sighed, shaking his head. Then, he unfurled the ancient scroll, revealing that the paper was stained with red fingerprints and signatures. Then, he pulled the dagger put of its sheath and handed it to Izuku, handle first. "Prick yourself with it. On the finger, please." He the instructed Izuku to write his name on the paper and to further prick all of his fingers on his right hand and to press his fingerprints on the paper.

"This is the last chance to back out. Are you sure about this, young Midoriya?" He asked. Izuku nodded, not being able to believe that this. "Then, Mrs. Midoriya, with your blessing, I would take your son as my student." He said.

Inko was thoughtful for a moment. "When the doctor told Izuku that he was a quirkless, I gave up mon his dream when I should have been supporting him..." Inko's head was pressed down in shame. Then, her gaze gained a new light in it and she lifted her chin, eyes full of determination. "This time, I'll stand behind my son for the entire way. Mr. Yasuo, you have my blessing to take Izuku as your student." Yasuo smiled and took the dagger back from Izuku, before slicing his fingers open, and shaking hands with Izuku, allowing their blood to mingle together.

"I, Yasuo, take Midoriya Izuku as my student in the ways of Akshai. He shall learn the secrets of the ancient arts with my guidance, and I shall support him trough all the trials ahead. Izuku Midoriya, do you swear, from this point forward, to obey me as your master?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to learn my teachings with the best of your ability, and without moments hesitation?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to stand against the encroaching darkness with courage? Do you swear to stand unflinching in the face of evil to shied those that stand behind you?"

"I swear."

There was a moment of silence, followed by a sound of rushing air, and the air electrified with power. The roof lights were starting to flicker on and off erratically, and Inko could feel her hair standing up. Both Yasuo and Izuku were surrounded by a bright corona of intermingling blue and green light. Then, it was over.

"I pronounce you to be my apprentice, Izuku Midoriya." Yasuo simply stated and released Izuku's hand. Both of their fingers were fine, with no signs of bleeding. Even the blood had disappeared. "I shall meet you at Dagobah Beach first thing in the morning." Then he left, leaving the two ecstatic Midoriya's behind. As soon as the door closed behind him, both of them collapsed in tears, hugging each other in joy.

xxx

The only voice in the room was the rhythmic hissing of an artificial lung and the slow, steady beeping of a heartrate monitor. The room was dark, only illuminated by a dim glow of a computer monitor. There, in front of the monitor, a lonely figure was slumped over. He was a short and round man, whose eyes were covered by peculiar goggles, His only other distinguishing feature was his extremely bushy moustache.

Suddenly, the heart monitor was whipped into a frenzied beeping, and the man shot upwards from the computer, looking clearly worried. He ran towards a hulking figure laying on hospital bed, frantically looking over him.

"Daruma…" The voice was a gravely whisper, sounding like a bunch of stones caught between millstones. The doctor froze. The frenzied beeping calmed down.

"Master?" The doctor immediately stopped what he was doing. He sounded hopeful.

"Daruma…Inform…Kurogiri…and…Shikaragi...that from this point forward…I will…direct them…personally." The hulking figure said ponderously, not having used his voice for half a decade.

"Of course, master." Daruma bowed low and left the room, intending to return to his master's side as soon as his assignment was done.

All for One smiled.

xxx

**If this chapter feels different to the first one, that would be because it was written in about four hours in the middle of the night, while suffering from sleep deprivation. **

**Kieraii- I do not have a concrete update schedule, but I endeavor to update this story at least a few times per month. **

**Reviews are always appreciated, but again, don't be a dick. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews and I will answer them with the best of my ability.**

**Until next time**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own My hero academia.**

**Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome.**

**Key:**

**xxx-Scene change**

**-x- POV change**

xxx

The sunrise revealed the sorry state of the Dagobah beach. All manner of trash littered the pristine beach, ranging from small pieces of plastic to fridges and finally an eighteen-wheeler cabin. The inhabitants of Musustafu usually avoided it, and it had become something of an illegal dumping ground over the years.

It was at this beach that Izuku Midoriya found himself lugging various pieces of trash off from the beach and into the pickup truck under the watchful eye of Yasuo, who was currently sitting atop a fridge, legs crossed.

"Come on Midoriya, move those legs. At this rate it'll take you years to clean the whole beach." Yasuo said as Izuku's legs collapsed from under him. He had been at it for a few hours now, and both he and Yasuo were starting to realize just how little muscle he actually had.

"The whole beach?" Izuku despaired, barely able to lift his head to look at the mounds of trash that stretched for miles.

"The whole beach, yes. And you're gonna be done with it before the UA entrance exam." Yasuo said, as he jumped off from the fridge and pulled Izuku at his feet, while simultaneously pushing his aura trough Izuku's muscles. To Izuku, it felt like something was literally wiping away the pain and aching and leaving behind just a strange numbness. "This is your first step in training. Be thankful that you're not being taught by my own master, or he would have you pushing boulders uphill." Izuku shivered at the mental image, before picking both himself and the broken microwave back up. He continued on silence for a few minutes, before his curiosity overcame him.

"Yasuo?"

"Yes?"

"Why exactly am I clearing this beach, I mean, shouldn't this be left to the government?" He asked, while sifting through the piles of trash for anything recyclable.

"For two reasons. One, it's necessary for you to increase your muscle mass by significant margin before we will be able to really begin your training to use your aura in any meaningful way. And two, because no-one lese will. The government will continue to ignore this because it's cheaper for them to do so." Yasuo thought for a moment. "Think this as your first heroic action. Back before the days of pro-heroes, this kind of community service was often the way that aspiring heroes got themselves integrated into communities. By the way, have you really thought about what I told you?" Yasuo said. Izuku was silent for a moment, before answering.

"I really don't think that I really need it…" He began before Yasuo cut him off.

"Don't say that. You seem to think that me training is some kind of miracle cure that help you to deal with all your problems. It's not. I think that you would really benefit from seeing a counselor, to help you to deal with the underlaying issues that started causing problems in the first place." Izuku did not look reassured. Yasuo sighed and placed a comforting hand on his protégé's shoulder. "Look, there's no shame getting professional help. I know that it sounds hard, but I promise to you, a professional counselor is going to be able to help you in ways that I'll never be able to. And for what's it worth, I'll not think any less of you if you really seek out professional help." He said. Izuku could feel himself tearing up. No-one aside his mother had ever said something like that to him. Yasuo was that and sighed inwardly.

'_Let's hope that the boy's counselor will be able to deal with his self-worth issues, because I know that I can't.' _He thought, all the while silently cursing Izuku's classmates and teacher for conditioning him to think that he was worth less than them. But right now, he would have to concentrate on his training, if he would have even the slightest chance of passing the UA entrance exam.

"All right, I think that's enough for today, I think." Yasuo said as the sun was starting to creep back down on the sky. Hearing those words, Izuku collapsed on the sand instantly, his exhausted muscles screaming. He was then pulled up from the sand by Yasuo, who led him through the stretches necessary to keep him muscles from cramping the next morning. While Izuku was already to just call it a day and just collapse on his bed and go to sleep, but as it soon turned out, Yasuo was not done with him for the day. He told Izuku about how he would have to meditate for at least an hour before going to sleep, in order to find the source of his aura. And that was why Izuku was currently sitting down on the floor, with his legs crossed despite his muscles screaming at him.

As he sat there, he remembered Yasuo's words to him.

'_Empty your mind. It's the only way that you will ever find your center and be able to grasp the reality of your own aura, your own lifeforce as it pumps trough your body, strengthening and nourishing it.' _

But it was proving to be far more difficult that Yasuo made it sound. Not only was the protest of his muscles distracting him, every time that he felt like that he had made some headway into emptying his mind, a forgotten memory would swim up to the surface and send his straight back to square one. He wanted to scream in frustration, but in the end, he just decided to go to sleep.

When Yasuo questioned him in the morning about the results of his meditation, Izuku told him, and Yasuo had listened, before he had declared that he had not succeeded with his task and thus he was not ready to start the real training. When Izuku asked what a success would be, Yasuo just replied with; "You'll know it when you manage to do it."

And that would prove to be the norm for the next few weeks, at least. With Yasuo questioning Midoriya about his progress in his mediation and saying that the results weren't enough and that he would know when he had succeeded.

xxx

Izuku was nervous. He had taken Yasuo's advice to heart and he was currently sitting outside the counselor's office. _It wouldn't be too late to turn back yet_, Izuku thought, nervously bouncing his leg up and down. He was the only person in the waiting room, and no-one would see him turning back now. However, he knew that he couldn't do that. He had specifically taken a day off from training in order to come here, and he didn't want to disappoint Yasuo. His mother had offered to come with him, but he had declined. He felt like that this was something that he needed to do himself.

"Izuku Midoriya? Doctor Nakamura will see you now." Izuku stood up and walked into the doctor's office. To his surprise, there wasn't a red leather couch inside the room, but it rather looked more like a spacious office cubicle than a doctor's office. The walls were sterile white without any decorations. The window was covered by a deep orange curtain, the only splash of color in the otherwise sterile office. All in all, the office was completely ordinary. The doctor herself, was anything but.

Her long blonde hair was tied to a tight bun and piercing poisonous green eyes stared seemingly trough Izuku behind a pair of oval eyeglasses. While her entire outlook screamed that she was a strict disciplinarian, her warm smile threw those notion out of the window. Izuku would go as afar as to say that the smile wasn't a fake. "Izuku Midoriya?" He nodded. The doctor offered him her hand. Izuku shook it. "Doctor Tomoko Nakamura. Pleasure to meet you." Izuku sat down opposite at the doctor.

"Now, if you please tell me why you came to see me?" She asked kindly.

Izuku thought for a moment. He didn't want to betray All Might's or Yasuo's trust, especially after both of them had trusted him to keep their secrets. Doctor Nakamura was quick to see this and to assuage Izuku's worries.

"Don't worry. Everything that you tell me here is under full patient confidentiality. The only thing that would cause me to tell someone something that you said here is that if you're connected to a serious crime, such as murder. Otherwise, I will tell no one." She said, smiling.

Izuku was stunned. "How…"

"It's my quirk. It's a minor telepathic quirk that allows me to tell if someone is worried about something and what they are worried about." She explained. "Now, if you would tell me the whole story. Leave nothing out, please." And so Izuku told her. He told her everything. About how he and Bakugo used to be friends, before he was revealed to be quirkless, hoe he had been bullied and how he had been to ashamed to tell his mother anything. At this point, tears were starting to flow from his eyes. The doctor pushed a packet of handkerchiefs towards. Wiping his eyes, Izuku continued his story. He told her how he had met All Might and how he had told him how he could never become a hero and how that had pushed him towards committing suicide. Then he told her how Yasuo had saved him and how he had taken him under his wing. But he still left out the truth of All Might's injury, out of respect for the hero.

After he was done, Doctor Nakamura was silent for a long time, searching for the right words. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Izuku was starting fidget in his seat. Doctor Nakamura was silent for a few more minutes, before she opened her mouth.

"All right. Here's what I think that we should do. While I would ordinarily recommend that you would be taken into psychiatric care, as you have demonstrated self-destructive behavior, I think that in this case, that wouldn't be the best course of action." The doctor said, while writing something into her computer. "The law is that, the hero academies can only admit those individuals that are psychologically stable, unless the cause of instability is directly caused by the individuals quirk, in which case, several professionals and the representative of the academy in question would be directly called in to discuss the case. As it stands, UA has no choice other than denying you entry into their establishment."

"However, should you prove yourself to be mentally stable within two weeks of the entry exams, there shouldn't be any problems whatsoever in your admission to UA." She finished and Izuku was left there, trying to swallow down that glob of information.

"So, they can't admit me into UA?" He asked.

"As you are right now, no. You aren't mentally stable enough to be admitted. At the moment." While she was saying this, the printer had finally finished printing the recipe. "Take this to the pharmacy, and they'll give you the depression mediation." She said.

Izuku left after they had decided to set up a meeting next week. As soon as Izuku was gone, Doctor Nakamura buzzed her assistant and informed her that she would be unavailable for at least a few hours. Then, she immediately called All Might's hero agency.

xxx

Toshinori Yagi was currently sitting in his office. While being in his skeleton form in a setting where people were expecting to meet All Might would normally be risky, the workers in his hero agency knew that he didn't like to be interrupted unexpectedly. And he wasn't currently doing any of the backlogged paperwork that tended to pile on his desk. No, he was currently doing something far more important. He was scrolling trough the various files that both UA and his old sidekick, Sir Nighteye had forwarded to him concerning the matter of his successor. He was still on the fence about it, but he had luckily managed to narrow it down significantly. Now, he would only need to meet the chosen candidates in person and…

A sudden knock interrupted his pondering. Toshinori Yagi reached inside him, searching for the flame of One for All that still burned inside him. Suddenly, he once again realized just how dim the flame had gotten. Six years ago, it was a bright flame that burned like the sun, an endless well of power accumulated by the dozens of bearers before him. Now, it was just a bonfire. An ember of what it once was and a grim remainder of what he had become. Still, he reached for its power, and it flowed trough him like burning water. His muscles bulged up, and where there once had sat the emaciated form of Toshinori Yagi, there now sat the bulk of All Might.

All Might schooled his trademark smile on his face. "Come in."

It was his secretary, and he was looking concerned. All Might was surprised. His secretary was very rarely concerned, and when he was, it often bodes ill. this time would not prove to be an expectation. "Doctor Nakamura's on the line. She says that she's got some news to you." The secretary handed him the phone and left him alone in his office.

"All Might speaking."

"_Tell me."_ Doctor Nakamura said. _"Does the name Izuku Midoriya ring a bell? Green hair and eyes, and you told him that he can't become a hero."_ She asked. All Might did remember, and it brought back the very same feeling of doubt that he had wrestled with in the staircase on that day.

'_It was for his own good.' _Toshinori Yagi silently reaffirmed to himself, but the same gnawing feeling still persisted in his chest. "I do. What about him?" All Might asked.

"_He tried to commit suicide shortly after that." _Toshinori Yagi felt his jaw drop down in shock. He could feel the power of One for All leaving his muscles, transforming himself back into his skeletal appearance.

"What?" He whispered, the weight of his actions now fully crashing into his mind. He could remember the crushed look in the green eyes on the rooftop and, but he couldn't have ever imagined that his attempt to protect the boy would drive him to try and kill himself. _'I have to apologize immediately.' _He thought to himself, but he couldn't help but feel a sinister and deceitful voice whispering to him that it would have been better if the boy had killed himself because that way, he wouldn't be ever able to tell anyone his secret. Toshinori shook those thoughts away. He couldn't afford to think like that, not now or ever. "Is he okay?" He asked aloud.

"_Yes, he's okay. And you aren't the only reason that he tried to kill himself. Apparently, he had been heavily bullied his entire life, and before you told him that he couldn't be a hero his childhood friend had just told him to kill himself. Your rejection just happened to be the final straw." _Doctor Nakamura explained and Toshinori could feel a miniscule amount of weight to lift from his shoulders. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he would have been the sole reason for the boys attempted suicide.

"Do you have the boy's home address? I would like to go there in person and apologize." He asked.

"_Normally, that would be covered under doctor-patient confidentiality, but seeing why you would ask it, I am willing to bend the rules. For this once." _Doctor Nakamura said, before giving him the address.

Toshinori leaned backwards in his oversized chair. All the furniture in his office had been made with All Might in mind, and when he was in his normal form, he found it exceedingly awkward to do anything. It was the main reason why he had the bad habit of letting his paperwork to pile up. He once again reached for the power of One for All inside him, buffing up his muscles, before telling his secretary that a serious matter had come up and that he wouldn't be available for the rest of the day.

xxx

Izuku was sitting in the kitchen, eating the katsudon that his mother had made. Izuku enjoyed all of his mother's cooking, but katsudon was his unquestionable favorite.

Opposite of him, Yasuo was enjoying his own bowl of the rice and pork cutlet. He didn't usually join the Midoriya family meals, but today he had been very apologetic about the fact that he would have to disrupt their peaceful evening, claiming that they would get a visitor that he would have to exchange a few words with. Not that Inko had been opposed to the idea. In fact, she had repeatedly insisted on Yasuo eating with them.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Yasuo placed down his bowl of katsudon. "He's here."

"Who's here?" Inko asked, while hurrying to open the door.

"All Might." Yasuo simply said, as he crossed his arms and stared at the door. Inko's face took on a grave expression as she went to let him inside. While Izuku had easily forgiven All Might, Inko had not. And Yasuo had a feeling that she wouldn't hold anything back. However, she didn't slam the door right on his face, which Yasuo considered to be a good sign.

At this point, Izuku decided to head inside his own room. He didn't want to be caught in between his mother and All Might, when his mother was on warpath. And besides, they would have to clear the bad air between themselves, and his input wouldn't be welcome in the matter, even if to just avoid them biasing their potions because he was present.

When All Might walked into the living room, Yasuo was taken aback at how skeletal the man looked. There simply wasn't any meat on his bones and he looked more like an anatomical cadaver than actual human.

All Might himself stood in the middle of the room, expressionless. Then, without warning, he dropped down o his knees and smashed his face against the floor I front of Inko. She w2as clearly startled by this, as she fell backwards on her bum. "I apologize for my actions towards your son and beg for forgiveness!" All Might half-shouted from his kneeling position. But while Inko was trying to recover from her surprise, Yasuo was channeling aura into his eyes.

His vision sifted, and his world came alight with swirling streams of rainbow-colored light as he opened his third eye on the second plane of existence. What he saw shocked him even more than All Might's physical appearance had. All Might was covered in malignant aura that reeked of corruption and creed. It clung to All Might's own, surprisingly bright aura like a leech, sapping it of it' strength. Majority of it was located under All Might's left ribcage, where Yasuo guessed he had been wounded. As he looked closer, he recognized the aura. A cold feeling of dread struck him in the chest. _'If __**he's **__still alive…' _

While Yasuo had been busy with his curiosity, Inko had managed to finally pull herself back together. "Get up." She commanded. All Might obeyed, staring Inko into her eyes. Inko took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Why?" She asked, with tears leaking from her eyes. "Why would you deny Izuku his dream?"

All Might just sighed, and lifted his shirt, revealing the prosthetic. When he removed it, both Yasuo and Inko had their breath hitch in their throats. Inko was more shocked about the fact that All Might had been wounded.

Yasuo, meanwhile was shocked at how corrupted the wound itself was. The signs of the malignant aura were clearly visible to the naked eye. The flesh itself was already showing signs of corruption even outside the affected area. Yasuo would be optimistic in saying that he had maybe a few months left before he would kick the bucket without treatment.

"How did that happen?" She whispered. All Might just sighed.

"This was given to me by a villain five years ago. I had to go trough extensive surgery to get it fixed to a point where I'm able to absorb nutrients trough the remains of my stomach and not to be confined to drip-feeding for the rest of my life. And I was lucky. A few inches here or there and I would be dead." He paused. "This is also the reason why I told your son that he couldn't be a hero. I didn't want him to die, because those that try to apprehend villains without a quirk often find themselves dead within a few months, and I didn't want to doom your son to the same fate." He explained, while Yasuo just pondered on the nature of All Might's wound. There was only one man that he knew of who was capable of doing such a thing.

"He's still alive, isn't he?" Yasuo asked. Seeing All Might's confused expression, he clarified. "All for One."

All Might was shocked. "How did you…?"

"I fought him once. He nearly killed me, but I managed to escape."

Inko was confused. "Excuse me, but who's All for One?" She asked. Both Yasuo and All Might found their expressions darkening.

"All for One." Yasuo said, voice dripping contempt. "He's perhaps the only person in history to ever deserve the right to be called a Supervillain. Nobody knows who he is, where he comes from and what does he want. All that we know is that he appeared during the time when the quirks were first appearing. He imposed order on the chaos, masking his true intentions behind a mask of goodness." He explained to Inko. "His quirk is that that he is capable of both taking and passing on the quirks of other people. Using his quirk, he became a figure of stability, taking quirks away from those that would create chaos and strife. The public loved him, calling him a hero, but all the while, behind the scenes, he was spreading his tentacles throughout the underworld, manipulating people and gathering followers. When the quirks started to become more prevalent, and heroes started to surface, he faded away from public consciousness. Now fully free to do as he wished, he started to organize the rise of villains." Inko looked horrified, the implications of what a such an individual would be capable of imprinting themselves on her mind.

"But that would make him over…"

Over a thousand years old, yes. I suspect that one of the first quirks that he stole was a one that granted him the longevity to last this long."

At this point, All Might took the reins from Yasuo. "All for One had his fingers in just about every pie that you can imagine. Wars, drug-and human trafficking, robberies, murder, arson, he has done it all. And over the course of a thousand years, he has collected thousands of quirks, giving him near godlike powers. But he made one fatal mistake." At this point, All Might's chest seemed to swell." He had a brother that was quirkless. So, for some reason, All for One decided to give his brother a quirk. That quirk was the ability to stockpile power. A useless quirk on its own, the ability to stockpile power. But trough some miracle, his brother had a quirk of his own. It was a useless quirk on its own, the ability to pass the users quirk to other persons. But, with the stockpiling quirk, they became something else. An entirely new quirk, never before seen." Now, All Might was suddenly surrounded by a puff of smoke. When it cleared, he was now the far more familiar muscular hero.

"One for All! It's a power handed down trough generations, from one wielder to the next, and all those who bear it are tasked in combating against All for One!" After this bombastic declaration, All Might puffed back into his skeletal form.

"I am the thirty-fifth wielder of All for One, and five years ago, clashed against One for All, finally bringing his reign of terror to it's end. Or so I thought." He said. He looked both of them directly into the eyes. "You see, there has been some unusual movement in the underworld. Villains seem to be congregating together, forming something akin to a loose alliance with each other. This is his handiwork, I'm sure of it. Currently, the hero academies are all preparing to face fire with fire, and they are preparing the future generation of heroes to strike back at the villains, to drive them back into their dark holes and protecting the world peace." Toshinori Yagi seemed to collapse into himself somewhat.

"I did not want your son to enter into world where people like All for One still hold power. I did not want to see him throw his life away unnecessarily. This, is the reason why I told him that he couldn't be hero. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me, miss Midoriya." He asked, while bowing at her.

Inko was at loss for words. Between the fact that she had just been told that a thousand-year old supervillain was making his return and All Might's confession, she wasn't able to think clearly for a moment. "I don't think that I will ever be able to fully forgive you, but Izuku wouldn't want me to be mad at you because you tried to protect him. So, I will forgive you, but don't think tat you will be able to get away with something like this a second time." She said, and Toshinori just nodded.

"It would have been arrogant of me to demand that you fully forgive me what I nearly did. But for what's it worth, I'm thankful that you could forgive me." Toshinori said, and moved to leave the Midoriya apartment, but before he could do so, he found Yasuo standing in his way, silently.

Then, without saying a word, he rammed his fingers into his wound, driving a massive amount of aura trough them.

Toshinori doubled over as he was overcome with burning pain radiating from his wound. He gasped in a breath, before his eyes widened. _'How…?' _

"What did you do?" He demanded, rising to his full height. And for the first time in a very long time, this brought him no pain from his wound. He looked down at it, and the ugly purple bruising and the rotted veins had disappeared, replaced by a softly pulsating lines of dim blue light that stood starkly against his pale skin.

"I removed the taint of a foreign aura from the wound." Yasuo explained, while Toshinori breathed in deep. "If I hadn't done that, you might've had only some months left to live." Toshinori moved in to thank him, but Yasuo held up his hand. "No need to thank me, it was within my abilities to help you, and I did."

Yasuo looked at the emaciated form of the Japan's number one hero. "I take it that you're looking for a successor to pass on your quirk, right?" He asked All Might, who just nodded wordlessly. "Then you really missed out on Izuku." Yasuo told him. "He has the ideals of a true hero, and I don't think that you could find a better successor for One for All. Did you know, that when I asked him how he felt about the fact that you told him that he couldn't be a hero?" Toshinori shook his head.

"He just told me that he didn't hold any grudges towards you, as he realized that you were just trying to protect his life." Toshinori's eyes widened.

"To forgive someone so easily…"

"I said that he had the makings of a true hero, didn't I?" Yasuo said. "Anyways, I'm training him to be a hero, who is worthy to bear the name; Symbol of Peace."

Toshinori couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You know what lurks in the shadows of this world, and you're still willing to thrust him into that world?" He accused Yasuo, while puffing up to his muscle form.

Yasuo's eyes flashed full of anger, and he brought his aura to the surface. In front of All Might, Yasuo was surrounded by a bright blue glow, and suddenly he found a heavy weight settling on his shoulders.

"Don't ever accuse me of trying to harm Izuku in any way!" Yasuo thundered as he applied more pressure on the Symbol of Peace. "You weren't willing to give him a chance. I did. I will train him to be one of the greatest heroes that the world has ever seen, even if it's the last thing I do. I will train him to use the very same power that I possess, and I will gladly watch as he surpasses all the expectations piled up on him."

"You believe that?" Yasuo just nodded. "I will take your word for it, but if I find that you have gotten the boy killed, I will come for you." All Might said, before he walked away. Yasuo just stood there, thinking about the challenge that the hero had just laid for him.

xxx

Izuku Midoriya was holding back tears. He had heard what Yasuo had said about him, and he had never had anyone place such confidence in him. Not even his mother.

'_Yasuo, I'll make you proud, no matter what it takes!' _He silently declared.

Later that day, Izuku was meditating next to his bed. He was trying to once again clear his mind, but unlike all the nights before, there were no forgotten memories that would disrupt him.

_Izuku found himself floating inside a black void. There was no light anywhere, and he couldn't feel his own limbs. But Izuku did not panic. Then, there was light. A bright green glow pierced trough the darkness and Izuku could see a great green flame in the distance. he felt himself floating towards it, and when he finally arrived near it, he could feel something pumping trough his body. It was power like he had never felt before. He was enveloped by the flame, but it did not burn, but rather it filled Izuku with its power._

Izuku snapped out of his mediation. Looking down, he could see the faint green glow that surrounded him. He smiled and he didn't even pause to say good morning to his mother as he headed for the Dagobah beach, eager to tell Yasuo about his success.

xxx

**Fun fact; at five-thousand words, this is the longest piece that I have ever written. **

**The not-so-fun fact is that, I, unfortunately, have personal experience with depression and suicidal thoughts, so I tried to put what it feels like into words as best that I could, but I fear that I didn't succeed in that very well. **

**If you're having suicidal thoughts, do not be afraid to see a therapist. They are able to help you in ways that you didn't know were possible. If you don't want to see a therapist, speak to someone you trust, and remember, there are people on the world that care about you.**

**Reviews are always appreciated, but again, don't be a dick. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews and I will answer them with the best of my ability.**

**Until next time.**

**Affen.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own My hero academia.**

**Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome.**

**Key:**

**xxx-Scene change**

**-x- POV change**

**xxx**

Izuku duked under Yasuo's kick and threw a punch towards his mentor's stomach. Yasuo effortlessly dodged the sloppy punch and followed it with a sharp jab directly to Izuku's face. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the pain, only to feel nothing. Opening his eyes, he saw Yasuo's knuckles about an inch in front of his face.

"Dead." Yasuo said and pulled his fist back. Izuku slumped down onto the beach. Since unlocking his aura, the previous week, Yasuo had changed his training schedule. Now, instead of mediating for hours before going to sleep, he was instead trying call upon his aura without meditating, as Yasuo said that he couldn't teach him anything about its usage before he could call upon it consciously. The time that that had freed up was instead taken over by combat practice, and in every single one of their bouts, Izuku had never even managed to lay finger on his teacher.

Seeing his apprentice's frustration, Yasuo decided to assuage it. "Don't be discouraged. We've been at this for what, five, six days? I never expected you to be even able to touch me for moths, at least." Izuku didn't seem reassured. In fact, that seemed to just cause him to slump further. Yasuo kneeled on front of Izuku and laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, look at me." He said, while lifting Izuku's chin up. "I've been fighting for decades, so of you managed to put up a descent fight after less than a week of training, it wouldn't be nothing short of a miracle. Now, get up, let's go for another round." He said pulling Izuku up from the sand and raising his hands in ready position. Izuku clumsily mirrored his movements.

This time it was Izuku who decided to throw the first punch. Stepping forward, Izuku opened with a haymaker aimed at Yasuo's face. Yasuo simply leaned backwards, allowing the punch pass over his head, before he continued the movement, lifting his legs up and kicking Izuku semi-gently in the jaw, all the while trying to not break anything. Izuku's face shot backwards and he tumbled onto the sand, only to get immediately back up.

'_You'll have to give it to the kid, he's tough if nothing else.' _Yasuo thought as he sidestepped Izuku's next punch and simply pushed Izuku's shoulder unbalancing him. Yasuo followed it by sweeping Izuku's legs from under him, sending him back into the sand, this time face first.

"Dead." He announced again as Izuku pushed himself up, a nasty bruise already forming on his jaw. "Anything broken?"

"I don't think so." Izuku said, his voice slightly muffled as he gingerly held his swelling jaw. Yasuo called on his aura, before pushing it through Midoriya's jaw, which immediately stopped swelling. Yasuo made a mental note to teach Izuku how to heal himself as soon as possible.

"When can you start teaching me about aura?" Izuku asked as he massaged his now painless jaw.

"It depends. How quickly can you call your aura?" Yasuo asked.

Instead of answering, Izuku just screwed his eyes shut and furrowed his brow. Yasuo stood there, waiting. Then, Izuku was suddenly surrounded by a dim green glow as his aura was starting to surround him. Yasuo raised his eyebrow.

'_I didn't expect the kid to get it so quickly.' _He silently complemented his student, amazed at his progress. "Good work, kid. It took me far longer to get to that point." He said as Izuku allowed the green aura to dissipate, leaving him panting slightly. "While it's not perfect by any means, you're more than ready to start training with it." Izuku jumped upwards, his eyes shimmering with excitement.

"Don't get too exited kid, you still got ways to go before you can even think about fighting against anyone with it, but this is a good start." Yasuo did not like raining on Izuku's parade, but it had to be done. "Word of warning before we begin. If at any point you start feeling unnaturally tired or dizzy, you must tell me immediately. As I previously told your mother, this stage of your training runs the largest risk of death by far."

Izuku nodded, remembering Yasuo's stories about those who had overestimated their capabilities with aura. None of those stories had been pretty.

"Now, the first thing that I'm going to teach you is to how to imbue your body with your own aura." Yasuo said as he stepped into his stance, weed wide apart, while he steepled his thumbs, index-and middle fingers, while crossing his ring fingers and pinkies, holding them at chest height. "This is the first and most basic stance utilized in Akshai's aura exercises. Now copy me." Izuku did as he was commanded.

"One of the most fundamental things that you need to learn about controlling your aura is how to control its intensity. The easiest way to do is to sync it with your breathing." Yasuo said as his own, neon-blue aura sprang up around him. Izuku noticed how instead of the steady brightness it usually held, it was now alternating between almost imperceptible and painfully bright in steady rhythm. "When you inhale, make your aura to burn brighter and when you exhale, do the opposite." Yasuo instructed him.

"In. Out. In. Out." Yasuo said, as Izuku tried his best to regulate the flow of his power. Izuku tried his hardest to do as Yasuo had told him to do, but he didn't think that what he achieved could be called a success at all. Trying to rein his aura to his will was like trying to stop a rushing river on its tracks, while standing in it.

Yasuo watched as his student's aura flickered like a candle. "Don't try to force it." He advised. "Let it flow trough you, and instead of trying to force it to do your bidding, simply guide it's flow." Izuku nodded wordlessly, and Yasuo watched as his aura dimmed slightly, before it started to flicker again. This continued for several more hours, with Izuku making no perceptible process in his quest to conquer the first step in the long road of mastering his own aura.

"That's enough." He called a halt to the training as the sun was starting to inch closer to the horizon, painting the sky a warm orange color. "We'll continue this tomorrow." He simply said as he started walking away from the beach, before turning back around. "Clean the beach some more before you go home, because tomorrow we'll have to split the time between improving your body, along with combat- and aura training." He said, leaving Izuku alone in the beach, with only the mountains of trash to keep him company.

Izuku continued to clean the beach long into the night under the moonlight until he was cut off a rasping voice.

"What are you doing out so late, boy?"

Izuku spun around, coming face to face with the speaker. He was a tall and lanky man whose whole body seemed to be made from rock-hard muscles. He wore a sleeveless black top, black boots and a scarf. His red eyes seemed to stare straight rough Izuku and directly into his soul. "Answer my question, boy." The man rasped.

"I-I-I am cleaning the beach." Izuku stuttered out. This seemed to surprise the man.

"Why?" He asked, while he leapt down from top of the garbage heap.

"Because my teacher told me to." Izuku said as he inched away from the unknown man. There was something unhinged about this man, and he had no desire to provoke the man further.

His answer seemed to displease the man as his face morphed into a snarl, and his hand fell to his hip. Izuku could see the glint of cold steel under the moonlight and he had to swallow down the lump in his throat.

"Why did he tell you to do it?" The man demanded, a mad glint in his eyes. He muttered something under his breath, tool quiet for Izuku to hear.

"B-b-b-because no-one else will. He told me that if I wanted to be a hero, doing community service would be a good way to begin."

This only seemed to enrage the man further, as he suddenly rushed towards Izuku, kicking towards his head. Izuku could not dodge in time and he could feel how the steel-toed combat boot dug into his skull, flinging him away from the man. Izuku tried to push himself up from the sand, but he felt the man's boot dig into the small of his back, pushing him back to the ground.

"It's a shame that I'll have to kill you, you seemed to have some potential. But if you can't think for yourself, you're no better than all the other trash." The man rasped and Izuku could hear how the man drew his blade from its holster. "I'll make it quick." The man said as he raised the blade up in the air. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking from his eyes.

'_I'm sorry, mom, Yasuo. I wasn't able to become a hero after all.' _Izuku thought as the man brought his blade down.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Izuku heard a familiar voice shout, followed by the sound of flesh meeting flesh as the stranger was flung away from his back. Izuku opened his eyes and saw Yasuo standing protectively over him.

The stranger had been thrown away into one the heaping piles of trash, but he was already getting up. "Another fake?" The man questioned while he drew a katana from his back. The edge of the katana was chipped, giving it an almost barbaric appearance as it gleamed under the moonlight. "No matter, I'll kill you too." The man said as he rushed towards Yasuo, trying to cut him in twain.

Yasuo stood his ground, waiting for the stranger to approach, before he lashed out with a lightning-fast punch squarely to his opponent's jaw. Izuku saw a flash of blue, and the stranger was sent flying, skidding along the sand.

"So, you're started to hunt down kids too in you crusade, Hero Killer Stain?" Yasuo questioned. "Wasn't your idea to purge the society from false heroes?" Stain just spat some blood and grinned, revealing that Yasuo's punch had made him lose more than a few teeth.

"The kid doesn't have any of his own ideas, instead he just copies from others. That makes him almost as detestable as the fake heroes that stain todays society, and thus it is my duty to purge his stain from the face of the earth, before he can be given the chance to steal more ideologies from others." Stain growled, as he pulled out a pair of combat knives and rushed towards Yasuo again. But this time, instead of slashing at Yasuo, Stain flung one of his knives towards Izuku.

Izuku could see the knife cut cleanly trough the air as it a shot towards him like a shimmering tar of silver. Yasuo also tracked the knife with his eyes, and faster than eye could follow, he _moved_.

Yasuo appeared out of this air, snatching the knife out form the air just as it was about to impale itself into Izuku.

"Run, Izuku." Yasuo commanded, taking a ready stance as he stared intensely at his opponent. "He's beyond your ability to fight." Izuku could no nothing but stay still, his body frozen in terror.

"GO!" Yasuo shouted as he the Hero killer leapt towards him, his sword shining cruelly under the silver moonlight. Izuku stumbled backwards, before he found his footing and took off running. As he turned back, he could see how Yasuo effortlessly weaved around Stain's wild swipes.

xxx

Yasuo ducked under Stain's sword, before slamming his palm against the villain's stomach and unleashing a burst of his aura, sending the black-glad man skidding along the sand, giving himself a brief respite.

_I've gotten out of shape _Yasuo though as he panted. In his prime, someone like Stain wouldn't even be a problem, but now he found himself getting more and more exhausted the longer their battle dragged on. _I'll have to finish this quickly _he decided, drawing in a deep breath.

His aura sprung alight around him, illuminating the beach with it's cold blue light. He could feel his exhaustion evaporating as the aura re-invigorated and reinforced his muscles. Then, for the first time in this fight, he committed himself fully to offense.

Shooting off like a bullet, Yasuo reared his leg backwards, before kicking the Hero Killer squarely across his jaw. A sickening sound tearing flesh and shattering bone filled the air, as Stain's lower jaw was ripped away from his head. Stain howled in pain and fury as he tried to halt the bleeding.

"Surrender. And I'll make sure that you'll receive a fair trial." Yasuo commanded. His only answer was a spray of blood and a gurgling noise as Stain again rushed towards him, forgoing all weapons in favor of simply trying to pummel him to death. Yasuo simply caught the Hero Killer's wrist and broke his elbow.

Stain screamed in pain and stumbled backwards, swaying unsteadily in his feet. The blood pouring out from the remnants of his jaw had stained his black shirt crimson red.

"Surrender." Yasuo told him again, hiding his exhaustion. In truth, he wasn't sure how long he could keep going as he could feel his reserves of aura dwindling fast. The earlier stunt hadn't helped him in that department either and now he was running dangerously low.

_If it comes to it, I could always undo the seal and… _He cut himself off, refusing to even think about undoing the seal. Suddenly, something pricked his senses, and he dove to the side.

A cloud of pure black mist coalesced into the air, directly where he had been standing not a second before. Two glowing yellow eyes opened within the mist, and a faint voice spoke out.

"_So, you are the one that the master spoke of." _The cloud said, the yellow eyes drifting to look at Stain, who had gone chalky white from blood loss. Silently, the cloud engulfed him. _"Come, it's not proper to keep master waiting." _And then they were gone.

Yasuo held his fighting stance, frantically scanning the environment around him, before wordlessly collapsing onto the sand, the exhaustion setting into his bones. The battle with the hero killer had pushed him further than any fight in decades, and he could now clearly see how badly he had let himself go. Back in the day, he could have gone at it for several more hours, but now, he felt like he was about to collapse on the spot.

"YASUO!" He could hear Izuku shout, and he pushed himself up from the sand. "Are you ok?" His apprentice questioned, all the while checking him over for any visible wounds.

"I'm okay." He reassured his student. "He didn't even touch me." Yasuo pushed himself up from the sand despite the protests that his muscles were screaming.

Izuku hurried to support his teacher, and together they somehow managed to hobble away from the beach, both intent on getting a good-nights sleep before mulling over the events of the night. Behind them, the lower jaw of the Hero Killer Stain was left on the sands.

xxx

The steady beeping of a heartbeat monitor woke Stain from his slumber. The first thing he noticed about himself when he managed to bring himself out of the drug-filled haze was the fact that his jaw felt heavier than it had done yesterday. Absently, he bought his fingers up to feel it, and instead of skin, he felt cold, smooth metal under his fingertips.

Then, the events of the night rushed back to him. He remembered meeting the green-haired copycat at the beach and questioning him about his actions. He remembered being enraged about the fact that the child did not have any of his own ideals and preparing to kill him in order to prevent him from staining todays society any further. He remembered how the brat's teacher had intervened and how he gotten his ass handed to him. As he was mulling over these facts, he heard the door open.

"Hero Killer Stain. You have managed to build quite the reputation. I'm glad that we could meet at last." A silky-smooth voice said, and Stain turned his head to face the speaker.

He couldn't make out the clear details of the speaker, but he could see that whoever he was, he possessed a build similar to All Might, but whereas the mere presence of the one true hero brought with it an aura of assurance and calmness, the stranger inside the room was the polar opposite. Stain could immediately recognize the fact that this man was far more dangerous than anyone that he had ever met.

"Who are you? What did you do to me?" Stain managed to ground out.

"Someone who agrees with you. As for what we did to you…" The man said cryptically, while presenting Stain with a small mirror. He accepted it without saying anything.

The face that met Stain in the mirror was not the one that he was expecting. His lower jaw had entirely been replaced by a prosthetic resembling a half of a grin, fashioned into a cold grey metal. Stain trailed his fingers across the cold metal.

"I apologize about the prosthetic. There was simply nothing that we could do in order to grow your jaw back again." The man sounded sincere. Stain was silent for a long moment, before setting the mirror down.

"You said that you are someone who agrees with me. What did you mean by that?"

Even though Stain couldn't see the strangers face, he got the impression that he was smiling.

"We booth see the today's heroes corrupted versions of the ideals that they were supposed to uphold. Instead of doing heroic deeds out of selflessness and kindness, todays heroes just chase after money and recognition, willing to stamp on anyone to further their own agenda." The man said, and Stain couldn't for the life of him find it in himself to disagree.

And to his surprise, he couldn't detect any hint of lies in the man's voice. It seemed that whoever this man was, he wholeheartedly agreed with his ideology. And that made him curious about who the man actually was.

Seeing the silent approval on the Hero Killers face, the man continued.

"Today's society is warped and twisted because of the presence of people like those. People who were given power that they didn't deserve. People who use their undeserved power to further stain the society. And while I admire your tenacity in killing all those who are undeserving of their power, wouldn't it be better to strip away their power, to see their pride and arrogance broken as they realize that their own power deserted them?"

Stain could admit that the idea of stripping those unworthy of their titles as heroes of their powers appealed to him, but sadly that was impossible. As he voiced it, the man chuckled like he knew something that he didn't.

"What if I told you that I have associates that are capable of exactly that, erasing the quirks off from people?" The man asked. "What if I told you that I could give you the tools to exact your vengeance to the false heroes much more efficiently?"

Stain could feel a hunger awaken within him, a hunger to destroy the powers of those who would defy him in his quest to reform the society into something where only those that would truly uphold the title of an hero would possess the power necessary to become one.

"What do you want?" Stain asked.

"Me? I want nothing from you. I just wish to provide you with the tools needed to change the society." The man said, as he pulled out a small, rectangular case from somewhere and handed it to Stain.

Stain opened the case, revealing a pistol settled on a bed of red velvet, along with several magazines. "The bullets in this gun contain an artificial strain of rhinovirus that is specifically engineered to attack against the DNA that contains the genetic data necessary in formation of the quirk factor. When you shoot someone with this gun, the virus spreads through their system like a wildfire, eliminating any traces of the DNA responsible in formation of quirks, while leaving all other parts alone. In other words, if you shoot someone with this gun, they will never be able to access their quirk ever again."

Stain lifted the pistol from the velvet almost reverently, angling it against the bed light, before aiming down the barrel. The weight of the gun in his hand felt right, almost as if the weapon agreed with him.

"Raguel." He declared after a long while. "You shall be my avenging angel as we take our vengeance against the society of the dales heroes." He said, as he brought the gun against his lips, kissing they grey gunmetal.

All For One smiled.

**xxx**

**Originally, this chapter was supposed to be far longer, mostly due to the fact that I originally intended for Izuku to meet both Aizawa and Mirio this chapter, but then I realized that I wanted to use them both later in the story in a way that required them to be strangers to Izuku and I had to scrap that concept. Then the whole fight with Stain happened and the bit between turned out to be far bigger than it was originally supposed to be and it was at this point that I realized that I would have to cut the chapter into far more manageable pieces in order to be able to keep up with uploading two chapters a month. So, the next chapter is when the plot officially flies off the rails if canon. **

**Reviews are always appreciated and as always;**

**Until next time. **

**Affen**


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